Subsyllabic units in computerized reading instruction: onset-rime vs. postvowel segmentation.
Previous studies suggest that adults and children divide spoken syllables into subsyllabic onset-rime units more readily than into any other kind of subsyllabic unit. We asked whether this same onset-rime segmentation might also be beneficial in teaching children to read. That is, can children learn more words segmented at the onset-rime boundary (e.g., CL-AP, D-ISH) than words segmented after the vowel (CLA-P, DI-SH)? In three experiments, first-grade students studied single words presented by a computer connected to a high-quality speech synthesizer. Experiment 1 used words of four letters but only three phonemes apiece (e.g., WHIP, DISH). In some of these words the onset-rime segmentation corresponded to the initial bigram (e.g., WH-IP); in some it did not (e.g., D-ISH). Experiments 2 and 3 used words of four letters and four phonemes (e.g., CLAP, CORN). In all three experiments, onset-rime segmentation proved more helpful than postvowel segmentation in short-term learning of the words.
Wise
B W
BW
Department of Psychology, University of Colorado, Boulder 80309.
Olson
R K
RK
Treiman
R
R
D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D010700:Phonetics; D011932:Reading; D013060:Speech; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*